Definitions Flashcards
Absolute poverty
Poverty wherein people do not have enough resources to acquire basic life necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, and water.
Absolute threshold
The minimum stimulus energy needed to activate a sensory.
Accommodation
Process by which existing schemata is modified to encompass new information.
Acetylcholine
A neurotransmitter associated with voluntary muscle control.
Achieved status
A status gained as a result of direct, individual action.
Acquisition
In classical conditioning, the process of taking advantage of reflexive responses to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.
Actor-observed bias
The tendency to make situational attributions about the self, but dispositional attributions about others, regarding similar behaviors.
Adaptation
In perception, a decrease in stimulus perception after a long duration of exposure; in learning, the process by which new information is processed; consists of assimilation and accomidation.
Adaptive value
The extent to which a trait benefits a species by influencing the evolutionary fitness of the species.
Affect
The experience and display of emotion.
Afferent neuron
Sensory neurons which transmit information to the brain from the body in response to sensory input.
Ageism
Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age.
Aggregation
A behavior with the intention to cause harm or increase relative social dominance; can be physical or verbal.
Agnosia
The loss of the ability to recognize objects, people, or sounds, though typically just one of the three.
Alcohol myopia
The inability to think about consequences and possible outcomes of one’s actions due to alcohol intoxication.
Alertness
State of consciousness in which one is aware, able to think, and able to respond to the environment; nearly synonymous with arousal.
Algorithm
A formula or procedure for solving a certain type of problem.
Aligning actions
An impression managment strategy in which one makes questionable behavior acceptable through excuses.
Alter-casting
An impression management strategy in which one imposes an identity onto another person.
Altruism
A form of helping behavior in which the person’s intent is to benefit someone else at a cost to him or herself.
Alzheimer’s disease
Degenerative brain disorder that is characterized by dementia and memory loss. Neurofibrillary tangles and B-amyloid plaques are phenomena found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
Amphetamine
A central nervous system stimulant that increases activity of both dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain.
Amygdala
A portion of the limbic system that is important for memory and emotion, especially fear.
Anomie
A state of normlessness; anomic conditions erode social behavior by means of excessive individualism, social inequality, an isolation.
Anterograde amnesia
Form of memory loss in which new long-term memories cannot be established.
Anxiety disorders
Disorders that involve worry, unease, fear, and apprehension about future uncertainties based on real or imagined events that can impair physical and psychological health.
Aphasia
Deficit of language production or comprehension.
Appraisal model
A similar theory to the basic model, accepting that there are biologically predetermined expressions once an emotion is experienced; accepts that there is a cognitive antecedent to emotion in expression.
Archetype
In Jungian psychoanalysis, a thought or image that has an emotional element and is a part of the collective unconsciousness.
Arcuate fasciculus
A bundle of axons that connects Wernicke’s area (language comprehension) with Broca’s area (motor function of speech).
Arousal
A psychological and, physiological state of being awake or reactive to stimuli; nearly synonymous with alertness.
Arousal theory
A theory of motivation that states there is a particular level of arousal required in order to perform actions optimally; summarized by the Yerkes-Dodson law.
Ascribed status
A status that one is given at birth, such as race, ethnicity, or sex.
Assimilation
In psychology, the process by which new information is interpreted in terms of existing schemata;
In sociology, the process by which the behavior and culture of a group or an individual begins to merge with that of another group.
Associative learning
The process by which a connection is made between two stimuli or a stimulus and a response; examples include classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
Attachment
An emotional bond to another person, particularly a parent or caregiver. The four main attachment styles are: secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized.
Attitude
A tendency toward expression of positive or negative feelings or evaluations of a person, place, thing, or situation.
Attribute substitution
A phenomenon observed when individuals must make judgments that are complex but instead substitute a simpler solution or perception.
Attribution theory
A theory that focuses on the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people’s behavior.
Auditory cortex
Region of the temporal lobe devoted to sound processing.
Auitory pathway
After entering the brain, sound is processed by several regions, including the MGN, auditory cortex, superior olive, and mfenor colliculus.
Authentic self
Who someone actually is, including both positive and negative attributes.
Autonomic processing
The brain process most closely resembling autopilot, enabling performance of multi:ple activities at the same time.
Autonomic nervous system
The involuntary branch of the peripheral nervous system that controls involuntary functions such as heart rate, bronchial dilation, temperature, and digestion.
Autonomy
The ethical tenet that the physician has the responsibility to respect patients’ choices about their own healthcare.
Availabilty heuristic
A shortcut in decision making that relies on the information that is most readily available, rather than the total body of information on a subject.
Avoidance learning
A form of negative reinforcement in which one avoids the unpleasantness of something that has yet to happen.
Babbling
Precursor to language know to spontaneously occur in children.
Back stage
In the dramaturgical approach, the setting where players free from their role requirements and not in front of the audience; back stage behaviors may not be deemed appropriate or acceptable and are then kept invisible from the audience.
Barbiturate
A drug that acts as a central nervous system deppresent, often used for anxiety, insomnia, and as an antiseizure medication.
Basal ganglia
A portion of the forebrain that coordinates muscle movement and routes information from the cortex to the brain and spinal cord.
Base-rate fallacy
Using prototypical or stereotypical factors while ignoring actual numerical information when making a decision.
Basic model
First established by Charles Darwin, a theory that states that emotional expression involves a number of systems, facial expression as well as behavioral and physical responses; claims that emotions are universal and should be similar across cultures.
Behaviorism
B. F. Skinner’s theory that all behaviors are conditioned.
Behaviorism can be applied across many bodies of psychological thought, including theories of
development, of identity, and of personality.
Belief
An acceptance that a statemnet is true or that something exists.
Belief perserverance
The inability to reject a particular belief despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Beneficence
The ethical tenet that the physician has a responsibility to act in the patient’s best interest.
Benzodiazepine
A central nervous system depressant that is often used to reduce anxiety or promote sleep.
Biomedical approach
An approach to psychological disorders that considers only pathophysiological causes and offers pharmaceutical and medical solutions for symptom alleviation.
Biopsychosocial approach
An approach to psychological disorders that considers conditions and treatments to be dependent on biological, psychological, and social causes. Treatment under this approach includes both direct and indirect therapy.
Bipolar disorders
Class of mood disorders characterized by both depression and mania.
Birth rate
The number of births per population in a period of time; usually the number of births per 1000 people per year.
Bisexual
A sexual orientation wherein individuals are attracted to members of both sexes.
Bottom-up processing
Object recognition by parallel processing and feature detection in response to
sensory stimuli.
Brainstem
The most primitive portion of the brain, which includes the midbrain and hindbrain; controls the autonomic nervous system and communication between the spinal cord, cranial nerves, and brain.
Broca’s aphasia
Loss of the motor function of speech resulting intact understanding with an inability to correctly produce spoken language.
Broca’s area
A brain region located in the inferior frontal gyru of the frontal lobe (usually in the left hemisphere); largely responsible for the motor function of speech.
Bureaucracy
A formal organization with the goal of performing complex, tasks as efficiently as possible by dividing work among a number of bureaus.
Bystander effect
The observation that, when in a group, individuals are less likely to respond to a person in need.
Cannon-Bard theory
A theory of emotion that states that a stimulus is first received and is then simultaneously processed physiologically and cognitively, allowing for the conscious emotion to be experienced.
Cataplexy
Loss ofmuscle control with intrusion of REM sleep during waking hours, usually caused by an emotional trigger.
Cataonia
Disorganized motor behavior characterized by various unusual physical movements or stillness.
Central nervous system (CNS)
The portion of the nervous system composed of the brain and spinal cord.
Cerebellum
A portion of the hindbrain that maintains posture and balance and coordinates body movements.
Cerebral cortex
The outermost layer of the cerebrum resonsible for complex perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive processes.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
An aqueous solution in which the brainand spinal cord crest; produced by cells lining the ventricles of the brain.
Cerebrum
A portion of the brain that contains the cerebral cortex, limbic system, and basal ganglia.
Characteristic institution
The social structure or institution about which societies are organized.
Chemoreceptors
Sensory neurons that respond to chemical stimuli.
Choice shift
This term is analogous to group polarization, but describes the behavior change ofthe group as a whole rather than the individual.
Circadian rhythm
The alignment of physiological processes with the
“24-hour day, inducing sleep-wake cycles and some elements of the endocrine system.
Circular reaction
A repetitive action that achieves a desired response; seen during Piaget’s sensorimotor.
Class consiousness
In Marxist theory, the organization of the working class around shared goals and recognition of a need for collective political action.
Classical conditining
A form of associative learning in which a
neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus such that the neutral stimulus alone produces the same response as the unconditioned stimulus; the neutral stimulus thus becomes a conditioned stimulus.
Cocaine
Drug that decreases reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, with affects similar to amphetamines.
Cognition
The process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experiences, and the senses; how we think and respond to the world.
Cognitive appraisal
The subjective evaluation of a situation that induces stress, consisting of both an initial primary appraisal and a potential secondary appraisal if a threat is revealed during primary appraisal.
Cognitive development
The development of one’s ability to think and solve problems across the life span.
Cognitive dissonacne
The simultaneous presence of two opposing thoughts or opinions.
Cognitive reassociation model
A model of aggression which states that we are more likely to respond aggressively when experiencing negative emotions.
Collective unconscious
In Jungian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mind that is shared among all humans and is a result of our common ancestry.
Colluculi
Two structures in the midbrain involved in sensorimotor reflexes; the superior colliculus receives visual sensory input, and the inferior colliculus receives auditory sensory input.
Compliance
A change of behavior of an individual at the request of another.
Concordance rates
In twin studies, the presence of a trait in both twins.
Conditioned response
In classical conditioning paradigms, the reflexive response caused by a continued stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus
In classical conditioning paradigms, this is an initially neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to train a behavioral response, rendering the previously neutral stimulus a conditioned stimulus.
Conduction aphasia
A speech disorder charcterized by the inability to repeat words with intact spontaneous speech production and comprehension; usually due to injury to the arcuate fasciculus.
Confirmation baisis
A cognitive bias in which one focuses on information that supports a given solution, belief, or hypothesis and ignores evidence against it.
Conflcit theory
A theoretical framework that emphasizes the role of power differentials in producing social order.
Conformity
The changing of beliefs or behaviors in order to fit into a group or society.
Consciousness
Awareness of oneself; can be used to describe varying levels of awareness that occur with wakefulness, sleep, dreaming. and drug-induced states.
Conservation
Concept seen in quantitative analysis performed by a child; develops when a child is able to identify the difference between quantity by number and actual amount, especially when faced with identical quantities seperated into varying pieces.
Consistancy
In sensory perception, perceiving certain characteristics of object to remain the same despite differences in the environment.
Context effect
A retrieval cue by which memory is aided when a person is in the location where encoding took place.
Contralateral
On the opposite side of the body, relative to something else (usually a side of the brain).
Controlled (conscious) processing
Processing method used when a task requires complete attention.
Correspondent inference theory
A theory that states that people pay closer attention to intentional behavior than accidental behavior when making attributions, especially if the behavior is unexpected.
Cortical homunculus
A “map” that relates regions of the brain to the anatomical regions of the body.
Critical period
A time during aevelopment during which exposure to language is essential for eventual development of the effective use of language; occurs between two years of age and puberty.
Crystallized intelligence
Cognitive capacity to understand relationships or solve problems using information acquired during schooling and other experiences.
Cues
In understanding the behavior of others, indicators of the underlying cause of a behavior. This includes consistency cues, consensus cues, and difference cues.
Deindividuation
The idea that people will lose a sense of self-awareness and can act dramatically differently based on the influence of a group.
Delirium
Rapid fluctuation in cognitive function that is reversible has a nonpsychological cause.
Delusions
Fixed, false beliefs that are discordant with reality and not shared by one’s culture, and are maintained in spite of strong evidence to the contrary.
Dementia
Intellectual decline starting with impaired memory and progressing to impaired judgment andrconfusion.
Demographic shift
A change in the makeup of a population over time.
Demographic transition
The transition from high birth and mortality rates to lower birth and mortality rates, seen as a country develops from a preindustrial to an industrialized economic system.
Demographics
The statistical arm ofs ociology, which attempts to characterize and explain populations by quantitative analysis.
Depressant
Any substance that reduces nervous system fonction.
Depressive disorder
Sadness meeting certain conditions of severity and durat ion such th at a diagnosis of a mental health issue is warranted. Depressive disorders include, among others: major depression, dysthymic disorder, and seasonal affective disorder.
Culture capital
The benefits one receives from knowledge, abilities, and skills.
Cultural diffusion
The spread of norms, cultures, and beliefs throughout a culture.
Cultural relativism
The theory that social groups and cultures must be studied on their own terms to be understood.
Cultural sensitivity
Recognizing and respecting the differences between cultures.
Cultural syndrome
A shared set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors organized around a central theme and found among people who speak the same language and share a geographic region.
Cultural transimissions
The means by which a society socializes its members.
Culture
The beliefs, behaviors, actions, and characteristics of a group or society of people.
Culture shock
Cultural differences tha t are seen as quite dramatic when travelling outside of one’s own society,
Dedctive reasoning
A form of cognition that starts with general information and narrows down that information to create a conclusion.
Defense mechanism
In Freudian psychoanalysis, a technique used by the ego that denies, falsifies, or distorts reality in order to resolve anxiety caused by undesirable urges of the id and superego.
Reliance on central traits
The tendency to organize the perception of others based on traits and personal characteristics of the target that matter to the perceiver.
REM rebound
Phenomenon in which one spends an increased time in REM sleep following a period of sleep deprivation.
Representativeness heuristic
A shortcut in decision making that relies on categorizing items on the basis of whether they fit the prototypical, stereotypical, or representative image ofthe category.
Repression
A defense mechanism by which the ego forces undesired thoughts and urges to the unconscious mind.
Response bias
The tendency of subjects to respond systematically to a stimulus in a particular way due to nonsensory factors.
Reticular formation
A structure in the brainstem that is responsible for alertness.
Retrieval
The process of emonstrating that information has been retained in memory; includes recall, recognition,and relearning
Retrograde amnesia
A form of memory loss that impacts long-term memories of events prior to the time of injury.
Rhombencephalon
The embryonic portion of the brain that becomes the hindbrain.
Ritual
A formalized ceremony that usually involves specific material objects, symbolism, and additional mandates on acceptable behavior.
Role
A set of beliefs, values, attitudes, and norms that define expectations for behavior associated with a given status.
Role conflict
A difficulty in satisfying role requirements or expectations among various roles.
Role partner
The person with whom one interacts while playing a particular role; each role partner provides a different set of behavioral expectations.
Role performance
Carrying out the behaviors associated with a given role.
Role set
A group of rok partners relative to a given status.
Role strain
Difficulty in satisfying in multiple requirements of the same role.
Role-taking
Roleplaying, by which children come to understand the perspectives of others and the ways in which these perspectives may differ from their own.
Sanction
A societally enforced punishment or reward for behvaior. Formal sanctions are those enforced by social institutions (laws) and informal sanctions are enforced by social behaviors (ostracitization, etc).
Schacher-Singer theory
A theory of emotion that states that both physiological arousal and cognitive appraisal must occur before an emotion is consciously experienced.
Schema
An organized pattern of thought and behavior; one of the central concepts of Piaget’s stages of cognitve development.
Schizophrenia
A psychotic disorder characterized by gross distortions of reality and disturbances in the content and form of thought, perception, and behavior.
Second sickness
The concept proposed by Howard Waitzkin that poor health outcomes are exacerbated by social injustice.
Secondary group
Groups wherein interactions are based on weaker, impersonal bonds.
Secondary stress apprasial
The interpretation of primary stress appraisal to determine emotional response to a given threat.
Selective attention
The ability to focus on a single stimulus even while other stimuli are occurring simultaneously.
Self-concept
The sum of the thoughts and feelings about oneself; includes self-schemata and appraisal of one’s past and future self.
Self-determination theory
Need-based motivational theory that emphasizes the importance of autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Self-disclosure
An aspect of interpersonal attraction or impression management in which one shares his or her fears, thoughts, and goals with another person in the hopes of being met with empathy and nonjudgment.
Piaget’s theory
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development divided the life span into sensonmotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages.
Pineal gland
A brain structure located near the thalamus that secretes melatonin.
Pituitary gland
The “master gland” of the endocrine system that triggers hormone release in other endocrine glands.
Place theory
Theory of sound conduction in the ear that holds that vibration on particular areas of the basilar membrane determines perception of pitch, also referred to as tonotopical organization.
Polyandry
A mating system in which a female has exclusive relationships with several males.
Polygamy
A mating system in which one member of a sex has multiple exclusive opposite-sex relationships.
Polygyny
A mating system in which a male has exclusive relationships with several females.
Pons
A portion of the brainstem that relays information between the cortex and medulla, regulates sleep, and carries some motor and sensory information frorn the face and neck.
Postive symptoms
Behaviors, thoughts, or feelings added to normal behavior.
Poverty
A socioeconomic condition of low resource availability; in the United States, the poverty line is determined by the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements for families to acuire the minimum necessities of life.
Power
The capacity to influence people through the real or threatened use of rewards and punishments; often based on unequal distribution of valued resources.
Pragmatics
The ways in which use of language can be altered, depending on social context.
Prejudice
An irrational positive or negative attitude toward a person, group, or thing, formed prior to actual experience.
Prestige
In sociology, the amount of positive regard society has for a given person or idea.
Prevalence
The number of cases of a disease per population in a given period of time; usually, cases per 1000 people per year.
Primacy effect
The phenomenon of first impressions of a person being more important than subsequent impressions.
Primary group
A group wherein the interactions are direct, with close bonds, providing relationships to members that are very warm, personal, and intimate.
Primary stress appraisal
An initial evaluation of the environment to determine if there is an associated threat.
Priming
A retrevial cue by which recall is aided by a word or phrase that is semantically related to the desired memory.
Primitive reflexes
Reflexes present in infants that disappear with age.
Prodromal phase
A phase of poor adjustment that precedes the full onset of schizophrenia.
Projection
A defense mechanism by which individuals attribute their undesired feelings to others.
Projection area
A portion of the cerebral cortex that analyzes sensory input.
Promiscuity
A mating system in which a member of one sex mates with any member of the opposite sex.
Proprioception
The ability to tell where one’s body is in space.
Prosencephalon
The embryonic portion of the brain that becomes the forebrain.
Prosody
The rhythm, cadence, and reflection of speech.
Prospective memory
Remembering to perform a task at some point in a future.
Proximal stimulus
A stimulus that directly interacts with and affects sensory receptors.
Proximity
An aspect of interpersonal attraction based on being physically close to someone.
Obedience
The changing of behavior of an individual based on a command from someone seen as an authority figure.
Object permanence
Knowledge that an object does not cease to exist even when the object cannot be seen; a milestone in cognitive development.
Obervational learning
A form of learning in which behavior is modified as a result of watching others.
Obesessive-compulsive disorders
This category, which also includes related disorders, describes the set of disorders where people feel the need to check things repeatedly or have certain thoughts repeatedly, without the ability to control these thoughts or activities.
Occipital lobe
A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls visual processing.
Opperant conditioning
A form of associative learning in which the frequency of a behavior is modified using reinforcement or punishment.
Opiates
A drug family consisting of naturally occurring, highly addictive, pain-r~ducing drugs used in both medical and recreational settings; opioids are synthetic versions of these drugs.
Opponent-processing theory
A theory that states that the body will adapt to counteract repeated exposure to stimuli, such as seeing afterimages or ramping up the sympathetic nervous system in response to a depressant.
Depressive episode
A period of at least two weeks in which there is a prominent and persistent depressed mood or lack of interest and at least four other depressive symptoms.
Deviance
The violation of norms, rules, or expectations within a society.
Diagnostic and Statictical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
The guide by which most psychological disorders are characterized, described, and diagnosed; currently in its fifth edition (DSM-5, published May 2013).
Diencephalon
A portion of the prosencephalon that becomes the thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary gland, and pineal gland.
Differential association theory
Theory that deviance can be learned through interactions with others who engage in deviant behavior, provided those interactions outnumber interactions with those who conform to social norms in number and/or importance.
Disconfirmation principle
The idea that states that if evidence obtained during testing does not confirm a hypothesis, then the hypothesis is discarded or revised.
Discrimination
In classical conditioning, the process by which two similar but distinct conditioned stimuli produce different responses; in sociology, when individuals of a particular group are treated differently than others based on their group.
Discriminative stimulus
In behavioral conditioning, a stimulus whose presence indicates the opportunity for reward.
Dishabituation
A sudden increase in response to a stimulus, usually due to a change in the stimulus or addition of another stimulus; sometimes called resensitization.
Displacement
A defense mechanism by which undesired urges are transferred from one target to another, more acceptable one.
Display rules
Cultural expectations of how emotions can be expressed.
Dispositional (internal) attributions
Attributions that relate to the decisions or personality of the person whose behavior is being considered.
Dissociative disorders
Disorders that involve a perceived separation from identity or the environment.
Distal stimulus
Part of the outside world that serves as a source for stimuli that reach the sensory
neurons.
Distant networks
Networks that are looser and composed of weaker ties.
Distress
The stress response to unpleasant stressors.
Divided attention
The ability to attend to multiple stimuli simultaneously and to perform multiple tasks at the same time.
Dizygotic twins
Fraternal twins who share approximately 50% of their genes, as with most siblings.
Dominant hemisphere
The side ofthe brain that provides analytic, language, logic, and math skills; in most individuals, the left hemisphere.
Dopimine
A neurotransmitter associated with smooth movements steady posture, the reward path way, and psychosis.
Dramaturgical approach
An impression management theory that represents the world as a stage and individuals as actors performing to an audience.
Dreaming
Phenomenon which mostly occurs during REM sleep. Theories proposed to explain this phenomenon include activation- synthesis theory, problem-solving dream theory, and cognitive process dream theory.
Drive reduction theory
A theory that explains motivation as being based on the goal of eliminating uncomfortable internal states.
Drives
Deficiencies that activate particular behaviors focused on a goal, which can be further subdivided into either primary (body-sustaining) or secondary (not biologically necessary) drives.
Dual-coding theory
A cognitive theory that states that both visual and verbal associations are used to encode and retrieve information.
Duplicity theory of vision
A theory which holds that the retma contains two types of specialized photoreceptors: rods specialized for light and dark perception and cones specialized for color perception.
Dyssomonia
A sleep disorder in which one has difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or avoiding sleep.
Ecstasy
Common name for MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N_methylamphetamine); a central nervous system stimulant with effects similar to both amphetamines and hallucinogens.
Efferent neurons
Motor neurons that transmit information from the central nervous system to the periphery.
Ego
In Freudian Psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mind that mediates the urges of the id and superego; operates under the reality principle.
Egocentrism
Self-centered view of the world in which one is not necessarily able to understand the experience of another person; seen in Piaget’s preoperational stage.
Elaboration likelihood model
A theory in which attitudes are formed and changed through different routes of information processing based on the degree of deep thought given to persuasive information. There are two possible processing routes within this model; central route processing (deep thinking or elaborative) and peripheral route processing (non- elaborative).
Elaborative rehearsal
The association of information in short-term memory to information already stored in long-term memory; aids in long-term storage.
Electroencephalograpghy (EEG)
A test used to study the electrical patterns
of the brain under varying conditions; consists of multiple electrodes placed on the scalp. Characteristic EEG patterns include beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves, as well as patterns associated with REM sleep.
Emotion
A feeling and state of mind derived from circumstances, mood, or relationships.
Emotional support
Listening to, affirming, and empathizing with someone’s feelings as part of social support.
Empathy
The ability to vicariously experience the emotions of another.
Empathy-altruism hypothesis
Theory that one individual helps another when they feel empathy for the oher person.
Encoding
The process of receiving information and preparing it for storage; can be automatic or effortful.
Endorphins
Natural painkillers produced by the brain.
Epinephrine
A neurotransmitter associated with the fight-or-flight response.
Errors of growth
Misuse of grammar characterized by universal application of a rule, regardless of exceptions; seen in children during language development.
Escape learning
A form of negative reinforcement in which one reduces the unpleasantness of something that already exists.
Esteem support
Affirming qualities and skills of the person as part of social support.
Ethnic enclave
Locations with a high concentration of one specific ethnicity that can often slow assimilation.
Ethnicity
A social construct that sorts people by cultural factors, including language, nationality, religion, and other factors.
Ethnocentrism
The practice of making judgments about other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one’s own culture.
Eustress
The stress response to rositive conditions..
Evolutionary stable strategy
A strategy that, once adopted, will use natural selective pressure to prevent ternate strategies from arising.
Exchange theory
In social structure, an extension of rational choice theory that focuses on interactions in groups. Exchange theory holds that behavior is engaged in based on expectancy of future rewards and/or punishments.
Expectancy-value theory
The amount of motivation needed to reach a goal is the result of both expectation of success in reaching the goal and degree to-which reaching the goal is valued.
Explicit memory
Memory that requires conscious recall, divided into facts (semantic memory) and experiences (episodic memory); also known as declarative memory.
Extinction
In classical conditioning, the decrease in response resulting from repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the of the unconditioned stimulus.
Extrapyramidal system
Part of the basal ganglia that modulates motor activity.
Extraversion
In trait theory, the degree to which an individual is able to tolerate social interaction and stimulation.
Extrinsic motivation
Motivation that is external, or outside the self, including rewards and punishments.
False consciousness
In Marxist theory, a misperception of one’s actual position within society.
Family group
A group determined by birth, adoption, and marriage rather tan self-selection (as in a peer group).
Fertility rate
The average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime in a population.
Fisherian selection
Also called runaway selection, this is a positive feedback mechanism in which a trait with no impact (or a negative impact) on survival becomes more and more exaggerated over time, especially if the trait is deemed sexually desirable.
Fixation
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the result of overindulgence or frustration during a psychosexual stage causing a neurotic pattern of personality based on that stage.
Flat affect
Behavior characterized by showing virtually no signs of emotion or affective expression.
Fluid intelligence
Ability to quickly identify relationships and connections, and then use those relationships and connections to make correct deductions.
Foraging
The act of searching for and exploiting food resources.
Forebrain
A portion of the brain that is associated with complex perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral processes such as emotion and memory.
Fornix
A long projection from the hipocampus that connects to other nuclei in the limbic system.
Front stage
In the dramaturgical approach, the setting where players are in front of an audience and perform roles that are in keeping with the image they hope to project about themselves.
Frontal lobe
A portion of the cerebral cortex that includes the prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex; it controls motor processing, executive function, and the integration of cognitive and bavioral processes.
Functional attitudes theory
Theory that attitudes serve four functions:
knowledge, ego expression, adaptation, an ego defense.
Functional fixedness
The inability to identify uses for an object beyond its usual purpose.
Functionalism
A theoretical framework that explains how parts of society fit together to create a cohesive whole, via both manifest (intended to help some part of the system) and latent (unintended positive) functions.
Fundamental attribution error
The general bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions when analyzing another person’s behavior.
Game theory
A model that explains social interaction and decision making as a game, including strategies, incentives, and punishments.
Gamma- aminobutyric (GABBA)
A neurotransmitter associated with stabilizing and quelling brain activity.
Ganglia
Collections of neuron cell bodies found outside the central nervous system.
Gemeinscaft and Gesellscaft
Theory that distinguishes between two major types of groups: communities (Gemeinschaften), which share beliefs, ancestry, or geography; and societies (Gemeinschaften), which work together toward a common goal.
Gender
The set of behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with a biological sex.
Gender inequality
The intentional or unintentional empowerment of one gender to the detriment of the other.
Gender segregation
The separation of individuals based on perceived gender.
General adaptation syndrome
Sequence of physiological responses developed by Selye in response to stress, initiating with alarm, followed by, stance, and finally exhaustion.
Generalization
In classical conditioning, the process by which two distinct but similar stimuli come to produce the same response.
Genotype
The genetic makeup of an individual.
Gentrification
The process ofrenewal of low income areas by upper-class populations, ultimately displacing the lower income residents.
Gestalt principles
Goverened by the law of pragnanz, ways for the brain to infer missing parts of a picture when incomplete.
Ghetto
An area where a specific religious, racial, or ethnic minority is concentrated, usually due to social or economic inequality.
Globalization
The process of integrating the global economy with free trade and tapping of foreign labor markets.
Glutamate
An excitatory neurotransmitter in the central
nervous system.
Glycine
An inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system.
Group
A social entity that involves at least two people, usually those sharing common characteristics.
Group conformity
Compliance with a group’s goasl, even with the group’s goals may be in direct contrast to an individual’s goals.
Group polarization
The tendency toward decisions that are more extreme than the individual inclinations of the group members.
Groupthink
The tendency for groups to make decisions based on ideas and solutions that arise within the group without considering outside ideas and ethics; based on pressure to conform and remain loyal to the group.
Gyrus
A ridge of the cerebral cortex.
Habituation
Adecrease in response caused by repeated exposure to a stimulus.
Hallucinations
erceptions that are not due to external stimuli but have a compelling sense of reality.
Hallucinogens
A group of drugs that cause distortions of reality in users, including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin-containing mushrooms.
Halo effect
A cognitive bias in which judgments of an individual’s character can be affected by the overall impression of the individual.
Heterosexual
A sexual orientation wherein individuals are attracted to members of the opposite sex.
Heuristic
A rule of thumb or shortcut that is, used to make decisions.
Hidden curriculum
In education, the transtriission to students of social norms, attitudes, and beliefs.
Hierarchy of salience
Theory of identity organization that posits that we let situations dictate which identity holds the most importance at any given moment.
Hindbrain
A portion of the brain that controls balance, motor coordination, breathing, digestion, and general arousal processes.
Hippocampus
A portion of the limbic sys m that is important for memory and learning.
Homosexual
A sexual orientation wherein individuals are attracted to members of their same sex.
Humanistic theory
The set of theories that hold that personality is the result of the conscious feelings we have for ourselves as we attempt to attain our needs and goals. The theories of Kelly, Maslow, Lewin, and others fall into this category.
Hypnagogic hallucinations
Hallucinations that occur when going to sleep; seen in narcolepsy.
Hypnopompic hallucinations
Hallucinations that occur when awakening from sleep; seen in narcolepsy.
Hypnosis
An altered state of consciousness in which a person appears to be awake but is, in fact, in a highly suggestible state in which another person or event may trigger action by the person.
Hypothalamus
A portion of the forebrain that controls homeostatic and endocrine functions by controlling the release of pituitary hormones.
Id
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious resulting from basic, instinctual urges for sexuality and survival; operates under the pleasure principle and seeks instant gratification.
Ideal self
The person one would optimally like to be.
Identity
A piece of an individual’s self-concept based on the groups to which that person belongs and his or her relationships to others.
Idenity shift effect
When an individual’s state of harmony is disrupted by a threat of social rejection, the individual will often conform to the norms of the group, followed by a corresponding identity shift to reduce cognitive dissonance.
Immediate networks
Networks that are dense with strong ties; generally overlap with distant networks.
Implicit memory
Memory that does not require conscious recall; consists of skills and conditioned behaviors.
Implicit personality theory
A theory that states that people tend to associate traits and behavior in others, and that people have the tendency to attribute their own beliefs, opinions, and ideas onto others.
Impression management
Behaviors that are intended to influence the
perceptions of other people about a person, object, or event.
Incentive
A reward intended to motivate particular behaviors.
Incentive theory
Theory that behavior is motivatecl by the desire to pursue rewards and avoid punishments.
Incidence
The number of new cases of a disease per population at risk in a given period of time; usually, new cases per 1000 at-risk people per year.
Inclusive fitness
A measure of reproductive success; depends on the number of offspring an individual has, how well they support their offspring, and how well their offspring can
support others.
Individual discrimination
One person discriminatmg agamst a particular person or group.
Inductive reasoning
A form of cognition that utilizes generalizations to develop a theory.
Inferior colliculus
Region of the midbrain that receives and integrates sensory input from the auditory system, and is involved in reflexive reactions to auditory input.
Information processing model
Model of human cognition containing four key components: information intake, information analysis, situational modification, and content/ complexity of problem.
Informational support
Support given by providing information to help another person.
Ingratiation
An impression management strategy that uses flattery to increase social acceptance.
In-group
A social group to which a person experiences a sense of belonging or one in which he or she identifies as a member.
Innate behavior
A behavior that is genetically programmed or instinctive.
Insomnia
Sleep disorder characterized by either an mabihty to fall asleep or difficulty staying asleep.
Instinct
An innate behavioral response to stimuli.
Instinct theory
In motivation, the theory that people are driven to engage in behaviors based on evolutionarily preprogrammed instincts.
Instinctive drift
The tendency of animals to resist learning when a conditioned behavior conflicts with the animals instinctive behaviors.
Institutional discrimination
Discrimination against a particular person or group by an entire institution.
Intelligence quotient
Numerical measurement of intelligence, usually accomplished by some form of standardized testing.
Interaction process analysis
A technique of observing and immediately classifying the activities of small groups.
Interference
A retrieval error caused by the learning of information; can pe proactive (old information causes difficulty learning new information) or retroactive (new information interferes with older learning).
Internalization
Changing one’s behavior to fit with a group while also privately agreeing with the ideas of the group.
Interneuron
A neuron found between sensory and motor neurons; involved in the reflex arc.
Interpersonal attraction
The force that makes people like each other.
Intersectionality
The interconnected nature of social categorizations as they apply to a given individual/group, especially when they lead to discrimination or oppression.
Intrinsic motivation
Motivation that is internal or that comes from within.
Intuition
Perceptions about a siituation that may or may not be supported by available evidence, but are nonetheless perceived as information that may be used to make a decision.
Ipsilateral
On the same side of the body, relative to something else (usually a side of the brain).
Iron law of oligarchy
Democratic or bureaucratic systems naturally shift to being ruled by an elite group.
James-Lange theory
A theory of emotion that states that a stimulus results in physiological arousal, which then leads to a secondary response in which emotion is consciously experienced.
Justice
In medical ethics, the tenet that the physician has a responsibility to treat similar patients with similar, care and to distribute healthcare resources fairly.
Just-noticeable difference (jnd)
The minimum tlifference in magnitude between two stimuli before one can perceive this difference; also called a difference threshold.
Just-world hypothesis
The cognitive bias that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.
Labeling theory
Theory that labels given to people affect not only how others respond to that person, but also the person’s self-image.
Language
Spoken or written symbols (verbal and nonverbal symbols), which are regulated according to certain rules of conduct or social norms and used for communication.
Language acquisition device (LAD)
An mnate capacity for language acquisition that is triggered by exposure to language; part of the nativiSt (biological) perspective of language acquisition.
Latent learning
Learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a
Learned helplessness
A state of hopelessness and resignation resulting from being unable to avoid repeated negative stimuli; often used as a model of depression.
Learning
In psychology, the way in which new behaviors are acquired.
Learning (behaviorist) theory
A theory that attitudes are developed through forms of learning (direct contact, direct interaction, direct
instruction, and conditioning).
Libido
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the sex or life drive.
Life course approach to health
An analysis of health and probable outcomes that includes consideration of the patient’s entire history.
Limbic system
A portion of cerebrum that is associated with emotion and memory and includes the amygdala and hippocampus.
Lingusitc relativity hypothesis
A hypothesis suggestmg that one’s perception of reality is largely determined by the content, form, and structure of language; also known as the Whorfian hypothesis.
Locus of control
The characterization of the source of influences on the events in one’s life; can be internal or external.
Long-term memory
The relatively limitless form of memory reserved for information that is sufficiently rehearsed or of sufficient impact. There are both implicit and explicit forms of long-term memory.
Long-term potentiation
The strengthening of neural connections due to rehearsal or relearning; thought to be the neurophysiological basis of long-term memory.
Looking-glass self
Social psychological construct stating that the self is developed through interpersonal reactions, specifically through a person’s understanding of the perception others have of them.
Magnocelluar cells
In vision processing, cells that have high
temporal resolution and detect motion.
Maintenance rehearsal
Repetition of a piece of information to either keep it within working memory or to store it.
Malthusian theory
Theory of demographic transition that focuses on how population growth can outpace food supply growth and lead to social degradation and disorder.
Managing appearances
An impression management strategy in which one uses props, appearance, emotional expression, or associations with others to create a positive image.
Manic episode
A period of at least one week with wominent and persistent elevated or expansive mood and at least tw other manic symptoms.
Maslow’s heirarchy of needs
Abranham Maslow’s theory that certain needs will yield a greater influence on motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy consists of 5 “levels” of need.
Mass hysteria
A shared, intense concern about the threats to society.
Master status
A status with which a person is most identified.
Mate bias
A measure of how choosy members of a species are in choosing a mate, based upon both direct and indirect benefits of mate selection.
Mate choice
The intersexual selection a mate based on attraction and traits.
Material culture
The physical items one associates with a given cultural group.
Material support
Providing economic or other physical resources to aid a person as part of social support.
Mating system
The way in which a gr up organizes its sexual behavior a d sexual relationships.
McDonaldization
A shift in focus toward efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control in societies.
Meditation
A state of consciousness entered voluntarily, characterized by a decreased level of physiological arousal and a quieting of the mind.
Medulla oblongata
A portion of the brainstem that regulates vital functions, including breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Melatonin
A serotonin derivative creted by the pineal gland that is associated with sleepiness.
Meninges
A thick layer of connective sue that covers and protects the brain; composed of the dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater.
Mental set
A tendency to repeat solutions that have yielded positive results at some time in the past.
Mere exposure effect
An explanation of attraction, also called the familiarity effect, which holds that people prefer stimuli that they have been exposed to more frequently.
Meritocracy
A society in which advancement up the social ladder is based on intellectual talent and achievement.
Mesencephalon
The embryonic portion of the brain that becomes the midbrain.
Mesolimbic reward pathway
Dopaminergic pathway in the brain including the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, and the medial forebrain bundle. This pathway is normally involved in motivation and emotional response, and is involved
in drug addiction.
Metencephalon
The embryonic portion of the brain that becomes the pons and cerebellum.
Midbrain
A portion of the brainstem that manages sensorimotor reflexes to visual and auditory stimuli and gives rise to some cranial nerves.
Migration
The movement of people from one population to another, including immigration and emigration.
Mirror neurons
Neurons located in the frontal and parietal lobes and which fire both when an individual performs an action and when an individual sees that action performed.
Misinformation effect
A phenomenon in which memories are altered by misleading information provided at the point of encoding or recall.
Mnemonic
A technique that aids in memory recall.
Monogamy
An exclusive mating relationship.
Monozygotic twins
Identical twins, sharing the same genetic material.
Mood disorder
A mental health diagnosis category containing disorders primarily characterized by disturbance in mood. This includes depressive disorders, substance- ituced, and bipolar disorders.
Moral reasoning
Kohlberg’s theory of personality evelopment, which is focused on the development of moral thinking through preconventional, conventional, and postconventional stages.
Morbidity
Theburdenordegreeof illness associated with a given disease.
Morphology
Thestructureofwords, including their building blocks (prefixes, suffixes, and so on).
Mortality rate
The number of deaths in a population per unit time.
Motivation
The process of psychological and physical requirements, goals, or desires causing behavior.
Motor neuron
A neuron that transmits motor information from the spinal cord and brain to the periphery.
Multiculturalism
The encouragement, multiple cultures in a society to enhance diversity.
Multiple intelligences
The idea that intelligence may exist in multiple areas, not just in the areas typically assessed by traditional intelligence quotient tests.
Myelencephalon
The embryonic portion of the brain that becomes the medulla oblongata.
Narcolepsy
A sleep disorder characterized by a lack of voluntary control over the onset of sleep; also involves cataplexy and hypnagogic an, hypnopompic hallucinations.
Nativist theory (of language)
Theory credited to Noam Chomsky that posits the existence of an innate capacity for language, referred to as the language acquisition device.
Needs
Physiological and psychological requirements that motivate and influence behavior.
Negative symptoms
In mental illness, symptoms characterized by the absence of normal or desired behaviors.
Negologism
Coining a new Word; seen in schizophrenia.
Network
A term used to describe the observable pattern of social relationships among individual units of analysis.
Network redundancy
Overlapping connects with in a social network.
Network support
Providing a sense of belonging as part of social support.
Neurocognitive models of dreaming
Models of dreaming that correlate subjective, cognitive experiences of dreaming with measurable physiological changes.
Neuroleptics (antipsychotics)
A class of drugs used to treat schizophrenia by blocking dopamine receptors.
Neuromodulator
Peptides that act as signaling molecules in the central nervous system; they are slower to act and longer lasting than neuroransmitters.
Neuroplasticity
Change in neural connections caused by learning or a response to injury.
Neuropsychology
The study of functions and behaviors associated with specific regions of the brain.
Neurosis
In Freudian theory, a clisorder that occurs in response to the anxiety of a fixation during childhood that impacts personality development.
Neuroticism
In trait theory, the degree to which an individual is prone to emotional arousal in stressful situations.
Neurotransmitter
A chemical that transmits signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse.
Neurulation
Stage in development in which the ectoderm furrows over the notochord, forming the neural crest and neural tube.
Night terror
An experience of anxiety during sleep, causing the sleeper to scream in terror with no recall of the event in the morning; occurs during slow-wave sleep.
Nondominant hemisphere
The side of the brain associated with sensitivity to the emotional tone of language, intuition, creativity, music, and spatial processing; in most individuals, the
right hemisphere.
Nonmaleficence
The ethical tenet that the the physician has a responsibility to avoid interventions in which the potential for harm outweighs the potential for benefit.
Non-rapid eye movement (NREM)
Sleep- Stages 1 through 4 of sleep; contains ever-slowing brain waves as one gets deeper into sleep.
Nonverbal communication
How people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, without using words; examples include body language, gestures, and facial expressions.
Norepinephrine
A neurotransmitter associated with wakefulness and alertness.
Norms
Societal rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
Organization
A specific type of group characterized by five traits: formality, hierarchy of ranked positions, large size, complex division of labor, and continuity beyond its members.
Ought self
The representation of the others think one should be.
Out-group
A social group with which an individual does not identify.
Overconfidence
A tendency to interpret-one’s decisions, knowledge, or beliefs as infallible.
Parallel play
Play style in which children can play alongside each other without interfering in each other’s behavior.
Parallel processing
The ability to simultaneously analyze and combine information regarding multiple aspects of a stimulus, such as color, shape, and motion.
Parasomnia
A sleep disorder caracterized by abnormal movements or behaviors during sleep.
Parasympathetic nervous system
A branch of the autonomic nervous system that promotes resting and digesting; associated with relaxed states, reductions in heart and respiration rates, and promotion of digestion.
Parietal lobe
A portion of the cerebral cotex that controls somatosensory and spatial processing.
Parkinson’s disease
A disease characterized by slowness in movement, resting tremor, pill-rolling tremor, masklike fades, cogwheel rigidity, and a shuffling gait; caused by destruction of dopaminergic neurons in the substantial nigra.
Parvocellular cells
In visual processing, cells which have very high spatial resolution and detect shape.
Peer group
A group of self-selected equals that forms around common interests, ideas, preferences, and beliefs.
Peer pressure
The social influence placed on an individual by other individuals who are considered equals.
Perception
Processing of incoming information to comprehend and respond to the current incoming stimuli.
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
The portion of the nervous system composed of nerve tissue and fibers outside the central nervous system.
Personality
The set of thoughts, feelings, traits and behaviors that are characteristic of an individual across time and different locations.
Personality disorders
Dlsorders that involve patterns of behavior inflexible and maladaptlve, causing distress or impaired function ina atleast two of the following: cognition, emotion, interpersonal functioning, or lmpusel control.
Phenotyoe
The expressed traits of an individual based on their genotype.
Phoneme
Individual speech sound assocaited with a language.
Phonology
The set of sounds that compose a language.
Psychological disorder
A set of thoughts, feelings, or actions that are considered deviant by the culture at hand and that cause noticabe distress to the sufferer.
Psychophysics
The study of the relationship between the physical nature of stimuli and the sensations/ perceptions they evoke.
Psychosocial development
Erikso’s theory of personality developmemt, which is based in the concept that personality is developed based on a series of crises dervining from conflicts between needs and social demands.
Psychoticism
In trait theory, the measure of nonconformity or social deviance of an individual.
Punishment
In operant conditioning, the use of an aversive stimulus designed to decrease the frequency of an undesired behavior.
Race
Asocial construct based on phenotypic differences between groups of people; these may be either real or perceived differences.
Racial formation theory
Theory that racial identity is fluid and dependent on political, economic, and social factors.
Racialization
The definition or establishment of a group as a particular race.
Rapid eye movemnet (REM) sleep
Sleep stage in which the eyes move rapidly back and forth and physiological arousal levels are more similar to wakefulness than sleep; dreaming occurs during this stage.
Rational choice theory
In social structure, the theory that individuals consider benefits and harms to themselves in any given social interaction and choose the best possible action .
Rationalization
A defense mechanism by which individuals explain undesirable behaviors in a way that is self-justifying and socially acceptable.
Reaction formation
Adefense mechanism by which individuals suppress urges by unconsciously converting them into their exact opposites.
Reappraisal
Processing for ongoing monltoring of a continuing source of stress thut cannot be deult with viu the normal 2-step appraisal method.
Recency effect
The phenomenon in which the most recent information we hear about an individual is most important in forming our impressions.
Reciprocal determinization
ln the social cognitive perspective, the notion that thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and environment interact to determine behavior in a given situation.
Reciprocal liking
The phenomenon whcreby people like others better when they believe the other person likes them.
Reciprocity
An aspect of interpersonal attraction based on the idea that we like people who we think like us.
Recognition-primed decision model
A decison-making model in which experience and recognition of similar situations one has already experienced play a large role in decision making nd actions; also one of the explanations for the experience of intuition.
Reference group
The group to which an individual compares him- or herself for a given identity.
Reflex
A behavior that occurs inresponse to a given stimulus without higher cognitive input.
Reflex arc
A neural pathway that controls reflex actions.
Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF)
A technique used to record patterns’ of neural activity based on blood flow to different areas of the brain measured using detection of inhaled radioactive markers.
Regression
A defense mechanism by which an individual deals with stress by reverting to an earlier developmental stage.
Reinforcement
In operant conditioning, the use of a stimulus designed to increase the frequency of a desired behavior.
Reinforcement schedule
The schedule which reinforcement is administered for behavior in operant conditioning; reinforcmeent schedules can be fixed or variable, and can be based on a ratio or an interval between rewards.
Relative poverty
Poverty wherem one is poor in comparison to the larger population.
Self-discrepancy theory
Theory that each of us has three selves: the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self.
Self-efficacy
The degree to which an ihdividual sees him- or herself as being capable at a given skill or in a particular situation.
Self-enhancement
In self-serving bias, the need to maintain self worth through internal attribution of success and external attribution of failure.
Self-esteem
An individual’s feelings of self-worth.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
The phenomenon of a stereotype creating an expectation of a particular group, which creates conditions that lead to confirmation of this stereotype.
Self-handicapping
An impression magement strategy wherein one creates obstacles to avoid self-blame when he or she does not meet expectations.
Self-presentation
The process of displaying oneself to society through culturally accepted actions and behaviors.
Self-reference effect
The tendency for individuals to best recall information that they can relate to their own
experiences.
Self-schema
A self-given label that carries with it a set of qualities.
Self-serving bias
The idea that mdividuals will view their own success as being based on internal factors, while viewing failures as being based on external factors.
Semantic network
Organization of information in the brain by linking concepts with similar characteristics and meaning.
Semantics
The association of meaning with a word.
Sensation
Transduction of physical stimuli into neurologic signals.
Sensitive period
A time during which environmental input has amaximal impact on the development
of particular ability.
Sensory memory
Visual (iconic) and auditory (echoic) stimuli briefly stored in memory; fades very quickly unless attention is paid to the information.
Sensory neuron
A neuron that transmits information from sensory receptors to the central nervous system.
Septa nuclei
Part of the limbic systern and one of the pleasure centers of the brain.
Serial position effect
The tendency to better remember items presented at the beginning or end of a list; related to the primacy and recency effects.
Serotonin
A neurotransmitter associated with mood, sleep, eating, and dreaming.
Sexual orientation
The direction of one’s sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes.
Shadowing
An experimental technique in which participants recite speech immediately after hearing it.
Shaping
In operant conditioning, the process of conditioning a complicated behavior by rewarding successive approximations of the behavior.
Short-term memory
Memory which fades quickly, over about 30 seconds without rehearsal, and which is limited if capacity by the 7 ± 2 rule.
Sick role
Theory that a person who is ill enters a role of “sanctioned deviance;” in which they are not responsible for the illness and are exempt from social norms.
Signal delection theory
A theory of perception in which internal (psychological) and external (environmental) context both play a role in the perception of stimuli.
Similarity
An aspect of interpersonal attraction based on being alike in attitudes, intelligence, education, height, age, religion, appearance, or socioeconomic status.
Situational (external) attributions
Attributions that relate to features of the surroundings, such as threats, money, social norms, and peer pressure, rather than to features of the individual.
Slepp apnea
Sleep disorder in which a person may cease to breathe while sleeping; may be due to obstruction or a central (neurological) cause.
Sleep cycle
A single complete progression through each stage of sleep.
Slow-wave sleep
Consists of NREM sleep stages 3 and 4; also called delta-wave sleep.
Social action
Actions and behaviors that individuals are conscious of and performing because others are around.
Social capital
The investment people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards.
Social class
A category of people with shared a socioeconomic background that exhibit similar lifestyles, job opportunities, attitudes, and behaviors.
Social cognitive theory
A theory that attitudes are formed through observation of behavior, cognition, and the environment.
Social construction model
A theory of emotional expression that assumes there are no biologically wired emotions; rather, they are based on experiences and situational context alone.
Social construction
A theoretical approach that uncovers the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the formation of their perceived social reality.
Social control
Regulating the behavior of individuals and groups within a society.
Social exclusion
The sense of being separated from and powerless society when impoverished.
Social facilitation
The tendency of people to perform at a different level based on the fact that others are around.
Social institutions
Well-established, ructured patterns of behavior or relationships that are accepted as a fundamental part of a culture.
Social interaction
The ways inw hich two or more individuals can shape each other’s behavior.
Social interactionist theory
In language development, the theory that language acquisition is driven by the desire to communicate. This theory includes both biological and social process.
Social loafing
The tendency of individuals to put in less effort in group settings as compared to an individual setting.
Socail mobility
The movement of ividuals in the social hierarchy through changes in income, education, or occupation.
Social movements
Philosophies that drive large numbers of people to organize to promote or resist social change.
Socail perception
Understanding the thoughts and motives of other people present in the social world; also referred to as social cognition.
Social reproduction
The concept that social inequality, especially poverty, can be reproduced and passed on from one generation to the next.
Social stratification
Organization of societies into a hierarchical system, usually based on socioeconomic status and social class.
Social structure
A system of people within society organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships.
Social support
The perception or reality that one is cared for by a social network.
Socialization
The process of developing and spreading norms, customs, and beliefs.
Socioeconmic status
Social standing or class of an individual or group, determined as a combination of ed ation, income, and occupation.
Sociology
The study of society, including how it is created, interacted with, defined, and institutionalized.
Somatic nervous system
The volunatry branch of the peripheral nervous system, which consists of sensory and motor neurons used to control bodily movements.
Somatic symptom disorder
Mental health disorders marked by bodily symptoms that cause significant stress or impairment. This category of disorder also includes related disorders, such as illness anxiety and conversion disorders.
Somatosensation
The sense of touch, which contains multiple modalities: pressure, vibration, pain, and temperature.
Somatosensory cortex
Region of the parietal lobe located on the postcentral gyrus and involved in somat, sensory information procesing.
Somnambulism
Sleep disorder in which one carries out actions in his or her steep; also called sleepwalking.
Source-monitoring error
A memory ifror by which a person remembers the details of an event but confuses the context by which the details were gained; often causes a person to remember events that happened to someone else as having happened to him- or herself.
Spacing effect
The phenomenon of retaining larger amounts of information when the amount of time between sessions of relearning is increased.
Spatial inequality
A form of social stratification across territories and their populations that can involve residential, environmental, or globa
Spontaneous recovery
The reappearance conditioned response previously determined to be extinct.
Spreading activation
The unconscious activation of closely related nodes of a semantic network.
State-dependent memory
A retrieval cue by which memory is aided when a person is in the same state of emotion or intoxication as when encoding took place.
Status
Aposition in society used to clarify individuals.
Sterocilia
Structures on hair cells in the ear that sway with the movement of endolymph, causing receptor potential , in the hair cells and ultimately leading to deletection of incoming sound.
Sterotype content model
A model that classifies stereotypes using two dimensions: warmth and competence.
Stereotype threat
A feeling of anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype about one’s social group.
Stereotypes
Attitudes and impressions that are made based on limited and superficial information about a person or a group of individuals.
Stigma
The extreme disapproval or dislike of a person or group based on perceived differences in social characteristics from the rest of society.
Stimulant
A drug that causes an mcrease in central nervous system arousal.
Stimulus
Any energy pattern that is sensed in some way by the body; includes visual, auditory, and physical sepsations, among others.
Storage
The retention ofencoded information; divided into sensory, short-term, and long-term memory.
Strain theory
Theory that explains deviance as a natural reaction to the disconnect between social goals and social structure.
Stress
The response to significant events, challenges, and decisions.
Stressors
Biological elements, external conditions, or events that ler to a stress response.
Structural poverty
Theory that poverty is due to inadequacies in societal and economic structure.
Subcultures
Groups of people within a culture that distinguish themselves from the primary culture to which they belong.
Sublimination
A defense mechanism by which unacceptable urges are transformed into socially acceptable behaviors.
Subliminal perception
Perception of a stimulis below a treshhold (usually the threshold of conscious perception).
Substantia nigra
Part of the basal ganglia responsible for dopamine release that permits proper functioning of the rest of the basal ganglia.
Sulcus
A fold in the cerebral cortex.
Superego
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the part of the unconscious mmd focused on idealism, perfectionism, and societal norms.
Superior colliculus
Structure in the midbrain that receives visual input and impacts eye movements and object oriented behaviors.
Symbolic culture
The nonmaterial culture that represents a group of people; expressed through ideas and concepts.
Symbolic ethnicity
An ethnic identity that is only relevant on special occasions or in specific circumstances and that does not impact everyday life.
Symbolic interactionism
A theoretical framework that studies the way individuals interact through a shared understanding of words, grestures, and other symbols.
Sympathetic nervous system
The branch of the autonomic nervous system that controls the fight-or-flight response; associated with stressful situations that increase heart and respiration rates and decrease digestion.
Synaptic pruning
Adjustment of neural connections throughout life, involving breaking of weak neural connections and bolstering of strong neural connections.
Syntax
The way in which words are organized to create meaning.
System of multiple level observation of groups (SYMLOG)
A method of studying group dynamics; focuses on three fundamental dimensions of interaction: dominance vs. submission, friendliness vs. unfriendliness, and instrumentally controlled vs. emotionally expressive.
tactical self
In impression management, the person one markets him- or herself to be when adhering to others’ expectations.
Telencephalon
A portion of the prosencephalon that becomes the cerebrum.
Temporal lobe
A portion of the cerebral cortex that controls auditory processing, memory processing, emotional control, and language.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
The main active ingredient in marijuana.
Thalamus
A portion of the forebrain that serves as a relay and sorting station for sensory information, and then transmits the information to the cerebral cortex.
Theory of mind
The ability to sense how another’s mind works.
Threshold
Also called limina; the minimum amount of a stimulus that renders a difference in perception.
Tolerance
Decreased response to a drug after physiological adaptation.
Top-down processing
Object recognition driven by memories and expectations that allow the brain to first recognize the whole object, and then recognize components based on existing expectations.
Trait theory
Personality theory that is focused on describing individual personalities as the sum of characteristic behaviors.
Transduction
Conversion of physical, electromagnetic, auditory, and other stimuli to electrical signals in the nervous system.
Transformational grammar
A linguistic theory that focuses on how changes in word order affect meaning.
Two-point threshold
The minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two distinct stimuli.
Type theory
Theorifes of personality that are focused on creating taxonomies, or finite lists, of personality types.
Unconditional response
In classical conditioning paradigms, the innate response brought about by an unconditioned stimulus prior to any conditioning.
Unconditioned stimulus
In classical conditioning paradigms, a stimulus that rings about an innate response.
Universal emotions
Emotions that are recognized by all cultures; include happin ss, sadness, contempt, surpise, fear, disgust, and anger.
Urbanization
The process whereby large numbers of people migrate to and establish residence in relatively dense areas of population.
Value
What one deems important in life.
Ventricle
An internal cavity within the brain; cells lining the ventricles prroduce cerebrospinal fluid.
Veerbal communication
The use of spoken or signed language.
Vestibular sense
One of the functions of the ear, the detection of rotational and linear acceleration to maintain awareness of body rotation and movement.
Visual cortex
Region of the occipital lobe devoted to processing visual information.
Visual pathways
Term which refers to both anatomical connections between eyes and brain and the flow of information from eyes to brain. The visual pathway contains several brain regio s including the LGN, the visual cortex, and the superior colliculus.
Vygotsky theory
In cognitive development, the theory that the engine driving cognitive development is childhood internalization of culture.
Weber’s law
A theory of perception that states that there is a constant ratio between the change in stimulus magnitude needed to produce a just noticeable difference and the
magnitude of the original stimulus.
Werickle-Korsakoff syndrome
A condition resulting from chronic thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, which is common in alcoholics; characterized by severe memory impairment with changes in mental status and loss of coordination.
Wernicke’s aphasia
Loss of language comprehension, resillting in fluid production oflanguage without menaing.
Wernicke’s area
A brain region located in the superior temporal gyrus of the temporal lobe (usually in the left hemisphere); largely responsible for language comprehension.
Working memory
Form of memory that allows limited amounts of information in short-term memory to be manipulated.
World system theory
World system theory argues there are global level inequalities in the division of labor between core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral nations.
Yerkes-Dodson law
A theory that there is a U shaped function relating arousal level and performance, dictating that performance is worst at the extreme high and low ends of arousal and optimal at intermediate arousal levels. This law is the basis of the Yerkes-Dodson law of social facilitation, a specific application of the erkes-Dodson law.
Zone of proximal development
Those skills that a child has not yet mastered but can accomplish with the help of a more knowledgeable
other.
Psychoanalytic theory
In personality theory, the set of theories based on the assumption that unconscious internal states motivate overt actions and determine personality. The theories of several psychologists, including both Freud and Jung, fall into this category.
